SCHMIDT PLAYS HIS POLITICAL CARDS – "Google's aggressive tactics have put it on top of the business world, and now the Internet giant is leveraging the high profile and sterling connections of its CEO to achieve similar power in the political sphere. Google boss Eric Schmidt is one of the nation's most politically active business leaders - a man who uses the cache of the company he leads as well as his own charisma to build strategic alliances in the Obama administration and on Capitol Hill," Kim Hart reports in today's POLITICO. http://politi.co/bDY0du

NEXT UP FOR NASA – It’s now up to Senate appropriators to decide whether to fund the new sweeping NASA blueprint that cleared the Commerce Committee on Thursday. But if yesterday's hearing is any indication... it's likely the chamber’s chief authorizers and appropriators are actually on the same page. Chairman Rockefeller said he believes Barbara Mikulski – who holds NASA's purse strings in the Senate – is no longer a question mark on the bill, while Sen. Bob Bennett seemed to suggest the same of subcommittee ranking member Richard Shelby, who also participated in early talks. Stay tuned.

16,574 – the number of comments submitted to the FCC in the first of many deadlines as it seeks more explicit authority over broadband providers. As we predicted, there are few surprises in each organization’s comments, seeing as many of those groups have long made their positions known. But Morning Tech cobbled together links and summaries to a few of their filings so you don’t have to search manually. Check out today’s special speed read after the jump.

By Tony Romm and Kim Hart

Happy Friday, and welcome back to Morning Tech. All eyes today are on Apple ahead of a rare press conference at which experts believe it will discuss the much-reported iPhone 4 antenna issue. Don’t hold your breath for a recall; a source told Bloomberg that such an announcement is unlikely. But DO expect lots of questions about whether Apple knew of the issue before the iPhone release; Bloomberg’s report suggests Jobs, at least, did. (h/t http://bit.ly/dDo3rH )

Our reception is just fine -- so send us your comments and tips via e-mail, to khart@politico.com and tromm@politico.com , or check us out on Twitter, @MorningTech as well as @khart and @tonyromm.

INDECENCY BATTLES will continue on C-SPAN's "Communicators" series that will air this weekend. Your Morning Tech hostess got the skinny on what this week's indecency ruling means for broadcasters.
Carter Phillips, who argued successfully for Fox, said broadcasters should no longer be singled out as "uniquely pervasive" in people's homes. "There may be some people in this country who would prefer to have network broadcasting available so 6-year-olds can enjoy it at all hours of the day or night, but that's not sustainable .... you'll drive broadcasters out of business."

But Patrick Trueman, who filed a brief with the court for Focus on the Family, said viewers have the right to expect decency on public airwaves. "This is one reason why people feel so out of touch with their governments. A court cannot figure out the f-word on broadcast television in the sanctity of our homes is inappropriate....Rock star Bono has no right to come into my home and do that..."

The lawyers agreed it's hard to guess how the FCC will proceed, but clarity will likely come when the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction ruling comes out of the federal appeals court in Philadelphia, which could happen any day.

** A message from Google: Google's not just a search engine. It's also helped create economic growth for local businesses in your state. Download the report (http://bit.ly/9ToSLV ) to see Google's impact in your state. **

HIGHTOWER HEADS OUT – Dennis F. Hightower, deputy secretary of Commerce, announced late Thursday he plans to leave his post on August 27. As a chief adviser to Secretary Gary Locke, Hightower handled a slew of broadband and tech initiatives – from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program to the agency’s cybersecurity efforts. According to the department, Hightower plans to head back to the private sphere, where he began a career that included tech and telecommunications. Obama praised Hightower in a statement following his announcement Thursday, saying he appreciated Hightower’s “guidance and hard work on various important priorities,” especially those in the broadband realm.

SOUND THE ALARM – The Public Safety Alliance – a coalition of first responder associations supported by the big telecos – will take to the Hill next Wednesday, July 21 to lobby lawmakers in support of Rep. Pete King’s public safety network bill. That proposal would essentially leave it up to first responders themselves to build out their own nationwide network, rather than the private-based roaming plan advocated by top Dems and some GOPers and pitched by the FCC as the most cost effective option.

THE EVENT WILL HAVE ITS THEATRICS. PSA officials promise in a release that “public safety vehicles will be present on Capitol Hill.” While there, reps tell us, they will meet with 38 lawmakers -- including House and Senate leadership from both parties, leadership on the Senate Commerce Committee and its communications subpanel, House and Senate homeland security committee members and House homeland security appropriators.

DO YOU TWEET? – The question was posed to Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. "No I don't," he said, admitting he's a late adopter. "I still didn't have a cell phone when most of America already had a cell phone. I do Google. I know how to get on the Internet. I have Facebook but I have to say it's managed by my office staff. They're doing really good because it's allowing me to communicate with more people." http://bit.ly/bPRKox

KLOBUCHAR VS. FACEBOOK, ROUND III – As lawmakers convened a hearing on children and Internet privacy Thursday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and top executives at Facebook seemed to be at loggerheads over the social network’s privacy policies. Klobuchar signaled in a letter earlier in the day that Facebook should place a “safety button” on every page and consolidate more information about privacy for parents. Facebook countered that it shared the senator’s concerns, but already includes “’Help’ links on every page” and aggregate privacy tips into one place. But in the latest salvo, Klobuchar told the social network in a late-Thursday statement that the safety information pages are not adequate.

“While Facebook does provide users with a "Help" page that includes links to safety resources, the safety information unfortunately requires clicking though multiple pages to arrive at Facebook’s safety center,” she said. “As I stated in my letter, it would make it easier for users under the age of 18 to immediately report any threats or abuse, as well as raise awareness of the growing problem of cyber harassment, if the information was more immediately and obviously available.”

LAWMAKERS EYING RETRANSMISSION TOO – It’s not just the pay-TV community pressing the FCC to take on retransmission rules this year. Both Dem Rep. Steve Israel and GOP Rep. Pete King began circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter this week asking fellow lawmakers to sign onto their forthcoming letter to the FCC, which urges commissioners to open rulemaking procedures on the retransmission regime. “While there is merit to many of the arguments put forth by broadcasters and MVPDs on the issue, the real losers under the existing retransmission consent system are television views…,” they write in the letter, obtained by Morning Tech, later urging the FCC to “re-examine the efficacy of the existing rules.”

SPEED READ: FCC BROADBAND EDITION – We parsed some of the more than 16,000 initial filings on the FCC’s reclassification NOI so you didn’t have to. Highlights include:

*AT&T urges in its 128-page filing that the FCC stay away from the 'third way' plan. “The Commission should work with Congress to bring the Communications Act into the 21st century...,” the comment adds. The filing also questions whether the FCC should pursue reclassification without the FTC, as a change “could divest the FTC of any jurisdiction over broadband Internet access providers.” -- http://bit.ly/9IJMLP

*Verizon opens its filing with the dictum, “The Commission’s proposed “third way” is in reality a return to the old way of antiquated common carriage regulation that was developed in the 1800s for monopoly transportation and utility services” -- http://bit.ly/b1iSXk

*Google endorses the FCC’s “third way” proposal in comments than span a short five pages (short, at least, compared to lengthier filings from AT&T, Verizon and Free Press) – http://scr.bi/bgvZcW

*Free Press, unsurprisingly, argues: “In response to the Comcast case, the Commission can and should classify broadband Internet connectivity service as a telecommunications service under the Communications Act.” -- http://bit.ly/bfi2YN

*CEA doesn’t take a side, but does stress it “believes that while the robust and thorough discussion regarding the need or desire for broadband reclassification takes place, we must remember that spectrum is a key driver of broadband services and applications” -- http://bit.ly/cXf0Z5

*The Communication Workers of America primarily argue “the best approach would be targeted legislation that clarifies the FCC’s authority”-- http://bit.ly/bSNLdm

SPEED READ:

FROM OUR FRIENDS AT 2010: BOXER BESTS FIORINA IN FUNDRAISING -- “Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) raised a blockbuster $4.6 million in the last three months, putting her ahead of her opponent, Carly Fiorina, who reported only $620,000 in the bank at the end of June. Boxer boasts the largest fundraising haul of any candidate – Democrat or Republican – who has filed his or her report so far this quarter, when many GOP candidates have raised more than their Democratic opponents. “ POLITICO story http://politi.co/b8rybz

** A message from Google: In 2009, Google generated $54 billion of economic activity for American businesses, website publishers and non-profits. That means a clothing store in Cheyenne, Wyoming now draws 150,000 more visitors to its site each month and an auto insurance company in Clark, New Jersey boosted business by 40 percent using Google's ad tools.

State by state, Google tools help businesses find customers, websites publishers earn money from their content, and non-profits solicit donations and volunteers.